‘Igbo billionaires should develop human capacity’

The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) of the University of Calabar, Prof. Uche Amalu, has called on billionaires from the Southeast to invest in capacity building instead of building skyscrapers which add no value to the development of the region.

He spoke in Calabar at an economic summit organised by the Igbo Graduate Students’ Association of the institution.

Amalu, who chaired the occasion, said the zone was gradually lagging behind in educational development due to the quest for money and other material things.

He said: “Money is not everything; what we have today in Igbo land is a consequence of misplaced value because money is in the hands of the wrong people. If you go to various states in the Southeast, what you see is high rise buildings everywhere, nobody is thinking about building tertiary institutions for the capacity building of future generations.

“I call on all our billionaires and millionaires in Igbo land to think of investing in education rather than these skyscrapers all over the place.”

President of the union Chiedozie Ikowu said the summit was to sensitise Ndigbo on the importance of communalism, pluralism and togetherness.

“The summit is to entrench in us the attitude of coagulating our resources, talents and potentials to develop our region. This is the time to stop playing politics of personal interest and work together to develop our dear region,” he said.

Guest Speaker Prof. Chukwuemeka Duruamaku of Business Management Education said the people of the region stimulate economic competition which is good for the development of any nation.